First Results at 24 Ghz with the Superconducting Source for Ions (susi)

The first commissioning results at 24 GHz of the Superconducting Source for Ions (SuSI) from Michigan State University (MSU) are reported. Although SuSI has been designed to operate primarily at 18 GHz, the superconducting magnet has been able to reach a field sufficient for operation at 24 GHz. Very exciting new results have been obtained during the commissioning of SuSI at 24 GHz for oxygen and argon. For oxygen 1.4emA of O was measured when injecting 5.2 kW of microwave power. For argon, 220euA of Ar was measured with 6kW injected. In most cases, the performances don’t seem to saturate yet with the injected power. Some surprising observations were also made regarding the coupling of 18 GHz in parallel with the operation of the ion source at 24 GHz as well as the impact of the frequency on performances.